BRASILIA, BRAZIL — Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA) and the National Supply Company (CONAB) announced on Jan. 10 that a survey of producers indicates that domestic production in the 2012-13 grain harvest is expected to reach 180.41 million tonnes. This estimate exceeds last year’s production volume by 14.23 million tonnes, representing an 8.6% increase from the 2011-12 harvest.
Soybeans are currently Brazil’s highest yielding crop, reaching 82.68 million tonnes during the latest production season. According to Secretary of Agricultural Policy of MAPA, Neri Geller, the 24.5% increase over the previous harvest will position Brazil favorably in the international market. "We will be the world’s largest producer of soybeans for the first time ever, thanks in part to federal government incentives through policies that have facilitated access to credit for producers.”
Data shows that Brazil’s first corn harvest is expected to reach 34.73 million tonnes, which, when added to the second harvest, will total 72.19 million tonnes. The first bean harvest, in turn, will grow by 58,900 tonnes, totaling 3.32 million tonnes when added to additional harvests in the 2012-13 season.
Brazil’s crops are currently in the development and flowering stage.
Brazil’s cultivated area for the 2012-13 grain harvest is 1.13 million hectares, an increase of 2.2% over the 2011-12 harvest. Soybean land area, which is the largest, has grown by 9.2%, or 2.31 million hectares, compared to 25.04 million hectares of soybean cultivated in the 2011-12 harvest.